Sarah's Story
by azelmajondrette
Summary: A short story of the events leading up to Mr. Hawkins desertion.


He was young, only 19, and his friends dragged him along to this silly dance. He scanned the girls in the room, looking for one to dance with so his friends would stop nagging him about it. A girl was standing in the corner, alone. She glanced up at him and blushed. His friends elbowed him, told him to have fun. The girl was willing after all. And she was beautiful.

She had gotten all dolled up, her best dress, curlers in her hair. She arrived at the dance full of youth and hope. He looked at her, and he was handsome. So handsome. He made his way over. He asked her to dance. She said yes.

He was wearing a suit and sweating. They warned him that this would happen if he got too hung up on a girl. They warned him that a girl wouldn't settle for a simple relationship. He loved her, but that love didn't seem so free and easy once he was stuck to it forever. Everything was scary when the word forever was placed upon it. He didn't have to go through with this…. Did he?

She smoothed down the veil. Her mother cried. Her friends gave her silly compliments that meant nothing. She heard nothing. Only the ringing of the bells. He would make her happy like he promised. They would live together, husband and wife like she always wanted. All that was left to do was make a vow.

He was reading a book, waiting for the ship to arrive. He promised her that he wouldn't be gone for very long this time. Not as long as he wanted to be. Her stomach wasn't the flat one it once was. It was now round with child. Her hair, so perfect the night they met was mussed up from her frantic life of trying to get everything done. The pretty girl he had asked for a dance with was just an illusion. Not she was something he had to take care off. She was baggage. She was taking away his freedom.

She looked at him all the time. She gave him kisses, but his lips were cold. He told her he loved her, but he never mentioned the baby, as if the thought of new life scared him. He always went off on voyages with his friends, leaving her behind. Would he even love the child? Would he love her as he promised? Now the people who stayed at the inn who used to gush about the young couple gave her looks of pity. But she ignored them. He loved her. They were just going through a rough patch. They would get through it.

He was more heated than ever as he stomped towards the ship. His friends would console him. They would tell him what a pain woman were. And he would remember the warning that he had ignored from them. They would tell him that she wasn't worth it. That the sailor's life was the way to go. They would tell him to run away, he could leave her and sail with them forever. He would think about it, then decline. He had the boy to think about. He loved the boy, for he was his own. But maybe one day the boy wouldn't matter anymore. Maybe one day the boy would be old enough to take care of himself. Maybe one day he would take his friends up on their offer.

She cried. The tears poured freely every time he went off. Jim would ask her over and over where daddy was. Her son said that one day he would be like him, soaring through space. He told his mother that he would be famous one day. She cried some more, and looked out the window. She always looked out the window, and waited for him to return to her. She was afraid that one day she wouldn't see the figure of her husband making his way up the path. One day he would be just as tired with her as he always said he was, and he would never come back. She was scared that he was slipping from her grasp.

He had just turned six. When he looked up at his mother, he saw the prettiest woman that had ever existed. When she cried she was just like all the princesses in the story books. He knew that when daddy was away she missed him. But daddy would always come home to see the most beautiful lady. He smiled and ran up to her. He held his hands up to her, and sang out. She loved him. And she was beautiful.

Through her tears she saw her son run to her. He was young and full of life. He kept the flame of happiness alive in her heart. The boy ran up to her and grabbed her hand. He called her the most beautiful lady. He asked her to dance. She said yes.


End file.
